Thursday, February 24 I went to the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum. I had been before and I was thrilled to go back! I love art! I had last been there about a year and a half ago for my art history class my senior year of high school so it was relatively fresh in my memory. While most all of the works amazed me, I’m only going to reflect on a few so bear with me. I tend to get carried away with art. My favorite part is probably just the out the box designs and bright colors of the art.
As I began to walk around the first floor, I remembered my favorite piece from my last visit. I looked around to find a curator (which wasn’t hard because there was always at least one watching my every move) and asked him how long he’d been working at the museum. At first he was startled. My guess is he probably doesn’t have many people asking him personal questions. He answered and I knew that he was there last time I was. I asked him about that particular piece and he said it was no longer on display. I was disappointed, but that went away quickly.
As I walked around, I began recalling tidbits of information my art history teacher had taught me. Immediately I saw the three works by Anselm Kiefer that are on display. I’ve always loved how he uses strange material to make such amazing works of art and his Book with Wings sculpture is absolutely breath taking.
I continued to walk around in awe of the art that is constantly at the tip of my fingers wondering why I hadn’t visited the museum sooner. Of course, there are those “works of art” that I KNOW I could do myself. It’s not hard to paint a canvas tan on one half and gray on the other. Instead of clouding my brain with thoughts of “This is art?” I just focused on enjoying the rest of the real art.
The next exhibit I came to was the Robert Lazzarini exhibit. My friend that came with me (who is not too thrilled by art) couldn’t get enough of his work, and neither could I! The way he morphed the objects was incredible. It was fun to walk back and forth, getting closer and farther away from the art, and seeing what eye tricks it would play on you. It was smart to put these dark objects on a stark white background because it definitely added to the effect.
I also spent some time in the Ed Ruscha exhibit. It was interesting, but not my favorite. I’ve never been the type to like wording in artwork. I feel like it takes away from the art. To me, art should speak for itself, not have words in it to do the explaining. That may be a novice opinion, but I’m a novice art critique.
I enjoyed the temporary exhibits, but what amazes me is the caliber of the permanent collection at the Modern Art Museum. I’ve always seen Andy Warhol works of art in textbooks and on the Internet, but I would never have guessed there would be two permanently on display down the street from my school. His Self-Portrait and Twenty-Five Colored Marilyns are two of his most famous works and two of my favorites.
The next piece that struck my fancy was Dennis Blagg’s Passover. Dennis who? That’s exactly what I was thinking. But if you were just passing by this piece you would think it was a photograph. But reading the information, I realized it was actually oil on canvas and I was immediately dumbfounded! I fell in love right then and there, with the artwork of course. His attention to detail was incredible. Maybe it’s titled Passover because most people would pass over it because it looks like a photograph. That’s just my assumption!
As I was leaving the museum, I remembered that I had seen works by Josef Albers during my previous visit to the museum. Even though I feel as if I could paint his Homage to the Square paintings, I still admire his work. At the time, I couldn’t think of his name or the titles of his most famous works, but I asked a curator if there was anymore museum to explore. I probably asked the wrong one. She was from a foreign country and did not understand me all too well. As soon as I got back, I looked up the list of permanent works in the museum on the Internet and sure enough there are three Homage to the Square paintings by Albers. I guess I’ll just have to see them next time I go.
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